aliens and assassins
by anenomenome
Summary: She was dead, she knew that. The only question was, why was she alive? - in which Natasha Romanov wakes up in the Star Wars universe and proceeds to save the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**ok so this is my new story bc i've had this idea in my head for awhile. i'm super happy to be doing a regular story again my other story is entirely dialogue and i hate dialogue so yay. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or elements in this story, those belong to their respective owners. I did not write this for monetary benefit. **

The first thing she felt was pain. Sharp, biting pain from her neck and head and chest, pain that spread its throbbing sensation throughout her body, down to her fingertips.

One by one came her senses. The first was touch. She slowly became aware of something wet and sticky dripping down her skin, of the sharp press of rocks beneath her body. Next came sound and smell, but there was nothing to hear and nothing to smell except something metallic and the whisper of the wind on the rocks, so she paid those senses little mind.

The last sense that came was her sight. She slowly opened her eyes, but then quickly shut them again, for the world was too bright to look at. Slowly she tried again, and this time she could see the blurry outline of a red sky against dark cliffs. She blinked a couple times, and the image became clearer.

Now that she could see, and feel, and do all the things she was supposed to, the next question that came to her mind was, _what had happened_? And slowly, the answer came to her brain too. She was Natasha, daughter of Ivan (though that was new), and she had died. That much, she was certain. She remembered falling, and Clint being there, and then dying.

But then, if she had died, how was she alive? She assumed she was alive, because she still had her uniform on and never really believed in afterlives or religion anyway. She should probably find Clint.

It took her awhile to get to the top of the cliff from where she had fallen. Simply getting up was a challenge, because with every movement she made pain like she had never felt before lanced across her body. But she got there, and looked down, and saw the blood her body had left. And it was strange because there was proof she had died, there was her blood and brain matter, and yet here she was, perfectly fine except for the aches.

She heard the guardian come before she saw him. Turned around to face him. The Red Skull's cloak billowed in the wind (she wasn't stupid she knew who he was).

"Why am I here?" she asked. "I died, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," he replied. "But it seems the universe isn't done with you yet."

"That's not a very good explanation!" she burst, but he gave no response.

She sighed. Time to try a new tactic.

"How do I get back?"

"Back?" the Red Skull questioned.

"Yes, back. How do I leave this planet? I don't have a ship, or any more particles." She looked down at her wrist. The device was shattered, presumably in her fall.

"I don't know," the Skull replied. "This has never happened before."

Anger rose in her, frustration. "Well there must be some way. You said the universe needed me, right? Well how can I help the universe if I'm dead from starvation on an empty planet?"

"You're right, and wrong." The man who had once been Johann Schmidt turned and pointed to the horizon, to the east. "You're right that you must go, but this planet is not empty. There should be a spaceport 150 kilometers that way. You can arrange transport offplanet there."

"Thank you," she said, and turned to go, but stopped.

"One more question. When is it? What year?"

"You are back in the time that you left. 2023, is it?"

"And how can I trust you?"

"I am not the Red Skull, or Johann Schmidt any longer. I am simply the Guardian, and it is my duty to assist all those who come here. Besides, I once heard tales of the Department, the one you grew up in. Their work was rather impressive. Any Widow would gain my assistance, however I cannot understand why you are working for those _Americans_. And Captain Rogers at that. You are a traitor, Natalia."

"Yeah, well. So are you," she scoffed, and started on her journey.

The journey took a long time. She was already weak, and the hot sun and absence of resources didn't help. As she shuffled along the rocky ground, her mind drifted. If only her old handlers could see her now. Trapped in an alien planet all because she cared too much. _Empathy is a weakness_. Maybe they were right, her mind supplied. Maybe if she had never cared about the Bartons or Wanda or any of them, maybe she wouldn't have died. _But then again_, she countered, _the world would still be broken_. And she then she knew that the boys had succeeded. The feeling of despair, of _wrongness_ that had pertained after the Decimation was gone. Or maybe that was just because she had died. Nevertheless, she had hope that the plan had worked.

The sun never set on this planet, stuck in a constant eclipse, but she had the sense that several hours had passed while walking. Eventually, she could see the outline of buildings in the distance. Red Skull was right.

She stopped and sat down on a rock. She had to be smart about this. She was approaching an unknown situation, with no backup or extraction plan. She had to blend in.

The first step: get out of her clothes. While she could not bear the thought of parting with the last remnant of her team that she had, she had no idea what the standard attire for this part of the galaxy is. She'd lift some clothes, maybe some money, and then find the nearest ship accepting passengers. She had to get home.

Determined, she approached the outskirts of the town. As she had expected, she received a few strange looks. The majority of the population were some sort of lizard-thing (humanoid, however), but there were definitely some other species mixed in. She even saw a human, once. This must be some sort of trading post, or hub.

Luckily, what everyone was wearing didn't seem too odd, and so she grabbed a jacket, pants, boots, shirt from a vendor. Simple, nothing outstanding. The general theme seemed to be military meets grunge. She could work with that.

Surveying the market, everyone seemed to be buying things with some sort of circular coin. She slipped her hand into the pocket of a man's coat and grabbed a handful. There was a strange design on both sides, but she couldn't figure out what they meant. That made sense. She was on an alien planet after all.

Now she had currency, which was a good thing. The only problem was, she had no idea what value the coins held, or how much a ride cost.

She looked out at the market once more. Sliding into a new persona, she walked over to an open vendor, who (she hoped) had a translator.

"Excuse me," she said sweetly. Right now, she was Natalie, a bumbling person whose husband had brought her along for a business trip. She had decided to explore the city, even though there didn't seem to be many tourist attractions.

"I just can't figure out these coins. Where I'm from we use something different. Can you help me?"

The vendor huffed. He did have a translator, after all.

"Well I don't know where you're from 'cause everybody use these coins. These Galactic Standard Credits," he said gruffly.

"Oh, I'm from far away, you've never heard of my planet." She gave him a sheepish smile. "Can you tell me how much they're worth?"

"Well how am I supposed to do that?" The man frowned. He scratched his face with a dirty hand.

"Oh, I don't know. I've got some coins here. Can you tell me what I could buy with them?" She pulled the handful out of her pocket. The man inspected the coins, counted them.

"That there's five credits," he said. "I reckon you could buy onea those hats Jef's selling over there." He pointed to an old woman who was indeed selling hats.

"No thanks," she said, and turned away. Five credits wasn't enough to buy her way onto a ship. She would have to either sneak on, or sell herself as some sort of labor. Neither seemed particularly inviting, but Natasha would prefer not to be an indentured servant. Sneaking on it is.

She made her way to the spaceport by following a young woman in a pilot's uniform. Or at least what she assumed was a pilot's uniform. It seemed very pilot-y. Sure enough, the buildings opened up, and rows of spaceships were lined up on the sandy ground.

The ships were unlike anything she had seen before. Actually, well, no - she had seen a spaceship before. She had been on the _Milano_ when the team went to kill Thanos, before they had known the stones were gone. These new ships were somewhat similar. They all had what she assumed was a cockpit and engines. However where the _Milano _was sleek, made of smooth lines and curves, birdlike, the ships she saw before her were square and boxy. None of the refined elegance of Peter Quill's ship. Various species bustled around the port, loading on (floating?) boxes or hunching over the sides of the ships, repair tools sending up showers of sparks.

As she gazed about the space, she became aware of a commotion behind her. Some sort of creature was roaring, and someone else was yelling back in an alien language.

She whipped around.

Some big furry thing roared, and then took its paws? Hands? And shoved a smaller scaly thing away. The scaly thing screeched in anger? And then drew a long baton, which then flickered with what Natasha assumed was electricity as the scaly one drove it into the furry one's side. The furry one roared again, and the scaly thing shocked it again and again.

Natasha sighed.

"Hey!" she yelled, striding sharply over to where the two were quarreling. She seized the scaly thing by the shirt collar and threw it away. It hit the wall with a thud.

"Let's use our words next time, okay?" she said, stepping between the two.

The scaly one spat something at her (nothing flattering, she assumed) but skittered away. Natasha turned towards the person still on the ground.

"You okay?" she asked. It moaned in response. _Of course it doesn't speak the same language_, she thought.

"Next time avoid… you know…" she made a stabbing motion vaguely reminiscent of the electric wand the other person had used. "Stay out of fights." She turned to go, when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She turned back around.

A young woman, 19 or 20ish, was standing before her. She was dressed in beige robes, and her hair in a complicated series of buns.

"Are you the one who saved Chewie, here?" the woman asked. Her voice had an English accent, which was strange because Natasha was in space. Natasha still didn't understand how she could understand the woman, but she would deal with that question later.

"Yeah," she said. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing," the woman replied. "Just thank you. Are you from around here?"

"No. I'm from… far away. Just looking for passage out of here. Do you know a good one?"

"You could come with us, actually. We owe you a debt for helping out Chewie," the woman gestured to the furry creathre. "We're heading out to D'Qar, but we could probably drop you nearby. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah. Sounds great."

"My name is Rey," the woman said. "What's yours?"

"Natasha. Natasha Romanov."


	2. Chapter 2

"So Natalie," Rey said as they walked through the halls of the spaceship the younger woman had led them to. The ship had looked a lot different than the spaceships she had seen previously (just one: the Milano), and like all the other ships in the yard it had none of the bird-like sleekness she attributed to Peter Quill's ride. The so-called "Millenium Falcon" looked like a giant metal space brick.

Rey assured her it was completely safe. Except for the occasional toxic gas, but she shouldn't worry because it only happened twice, and the second time was on purpose.

Lovely.

"This is the crew's quarter, and over here in this room is the hyperdrive," instructed Rey. "Do you know how to do maintenance on those? If you're going to travel with us we'll need your help."

"Uh no," Natasha replied. _I don't even know what that is_.

"Do you know anything about circuitry?"

_Quick, Natasha,_ She thought, _Find something you can do so you don't seem out of place. _She found herself suddenly grateful for the training the Red Room had given her. _Natalia scored top marks in adaptation to foreign situations._

"Enough," she said.

"Good, that's good." Rey turned into another room. "This can be your bunk for now. We'll reach D'Qar in a couple days. Where did you say you were headed?"

"I didn't," Natasha said. "I don't really know where I'm going. I guess I just wanted to get off Vormir."

"Well - " Rey was cut off by the sound of an explosion. Immediately, the two stood, and Natasha followed the other to the cockpit.

"What was that?" Rey yelled. Chewie moaned and growled in response.

"What was _that?_" Natasha hissed. She gripped the back of one of the chairs as the craft shook.

"_Apparently_ we're getting boarded by _pirates_ (again) and _someone_," she turned pointedly to stare at Chewie, "_didn't notice!_" Chewie moaned apologetically in response.

"Pirates?" Natasha wondered. "What kind of pirates?"

"Are you going to question everything I say? I don't know what kind of pirates! Just-" Rey snapped. She turned towards Natasha sharply. "Look, you can fight, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I know how to throw a few punches."

"Well then get out there and punch them!"

"Right." Natasha leapt from her seat and ran down the passageway. Alarms wailed and lights flashed as she hurried towards the entrance hatch. The walls shuddered and clanged. Soon enough, the pirates would be able to enter. Unfortunately for them, Natasha would be waiting.

She pulled a crate in front of the door as a temporary barricade, and unclasped her handgun from her holster. The gun was more primitive than the tech she had seen so far, but hopefully it would do the job.

She waited, and her mind raced.

While Natasha would prefer to be on the attack, she couldn't leave the ship, because one - she might get sucked into space, which was always a possibility, and two - better to fight in a (more) familiar territory than go in blind. The pirates would have to come to her.

Soon enough she could hear a faint whine behind the door. Beams of light shone through the thick metal, seeming to melt it. The pirates were cutting their way through - the door fell to the floor with a bang.

Seven hostiles, all armed. Strong, fast, with tentacles. Natasha decided to take out the strongest first. She leapt up from her cover, and quickly fired a bullet towards the pirate in the front - he went down. If she had more time, she would have ruminated on how human dimorphisms seemed to apply to many of the species she had seen so far, but then she was leaping onto the second. She flipped around his back, wrapped her arms around his neck and twisted. With a crack the second went down.

The third raised his weapon, but Natasha was faster - she drew her pistol and hit his weapon hand. He roared in pain.

The next three ran toward her, but she dispatched them all with a quick shot to the head. The last pirate turned towards her, and she aimed her gun, but it clicked. Empty. No matter. Her hand shifted to hold the barrel, and the handle cracked into the pirate's head. He staggered back, and raised his fists.

Hand-to-hand, then. Alright.

A kick to the knee, followed by two sharp crosses to the stomach. She ducked under his fists to upper cut his tentacle-face, and flipped around his kick. He grabbed her arm, but she twisted and rolled his body over her back.

This was fun, easy, simple. She allowed her mind to lose herself in the fight, to trade blows with the pirate. Her thoughts worries flew from her head - all that mattered was the where the next blow was coming from and what she would do with it.

Soon enough her mind cleared, and the last pirate was groaning on the floor. Of the seven, five dead, two incapacitated. Not her best, not her worst.

She bent down to inspect one of the bodies when somebody coughed behind her.

"I was going to see if you needed any help, but it seems like you did alright by yourself," Rey said. Natasha turned around.

"A few punches?" said Rey incredulously. Natasha laughed without humor.

"Yeah... What should we do with the bodies?"

"Bodies?" questioned Rey.

"Yes," Natasha said. "That one has a bullet in his forehead."

"Right," Rey massaged her forehead with her palm. "I'm not even going to get into what a bullet is. We really weren't supposed to kill them. That's not what the Resistance tries to do."

"Well they are already dead," stated Natasha.

Rey sighed. "We're in space, and this is war. We can't pretend these sorts of things don't happen… Chewie can take care of this. Come to the cockpit. We're almost at D'Qar."

Behind the windshield loomed the green image of the planet; large and round.

"It's a beautiful planet," Natasha said.

"Yes." Rey replied. "Very green." Together the two of them watched D'Qar and the Resistance spin slowly towards them.

**I don't know about this chapter - the characters are very ooc. But whatever. This is unbeta'd, like the rest of my stories. Please let me know what you think! I take and value all your criticism. THANKS**


	3. Chapter 3

When they landed the ship, Rey caught Natasha's arm before she could walk away.

"Natalie, I want you to come with me," she said.

"Why?"

"General Leia wants to meet you." Not mollified in the least, Natasha followed behind Rey as they walked through the Resistance base. She had no idea who General Leia was, but she was obviously very important. _Best to see where this goes_, Natasha thought.

The base was very beautiful, in a military sort of way. The buildings were surrounded by lush forest, and underneath the roar of the engines she could pick out the sounds of birds and leaves. It was a beautiful planet. The buildings, too, were special. There wasn't much above ground, only simplistic low-build structures, but underneath the elevators opened up into vast hangars and spacious hallways. Everything had a sleek, futuristic edge to it - droids and ships and even the walls. Not for the first time, Natasha felt out of her depth. Just like she had told Steve all those years ago - she only acted like she knew everything, and this world, no, universe, was certainly beyond the range of her knowledge. But then again, Natasha was a very good actor.

Eventually Rey lead her to a door, which slid away in front of them to reveal a round room - a meeting room. There was a crowd of people already in it, of all species, and when the two entered the room they all turned to look at them.

"Thank you, Rey," spoke a woman in the front. She was older, with greying hair, but her presence was still sharp and commanding. The woman turned to Natasha.

"You must be Natalie," the woman said. "I'm General Leia. It's a pleasure to meet you. From what Rey has told me, we have much to discuss."

She smiled. "Have a seat."

Natasha smiled thinly in return. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a very interesting person," Leia continued, still with that faint smile on her face. "We were very surprised when Rey told us about you… and about the pirates."

Of course Rey had radioed ahead. It was what Natasha would have done, too. "And what of the pirates?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Natasha sighed and looked at her hands. "Look… I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you have to!" burst out a dark-haired man who had been watching before. Confidently, he strode towards where Natasha was standing. "Look, you're really suspicious. A woman, from the middle of nowhere, who suddenly busts out some insane fighting skills - _who are you? Are you -_"

Leia cut him off. "That's enough, Poe." She turned to Natasha and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but he's right. The Resistance has been in a lot of danger lately; taken a lot of hits. We need to know who or what you are before we trust you. And I want to trust you. You seem like a good kid; the Resistance could use you. But we need to know."

Natasha sighed again. "I was in my home planet's military. That's all."

"That's _all_," burst the man Poe again. "That's not _enough_! People, children, are _dying_ because of what the First Order is doing. They're destroying the galaxy and _we are the only people standing in the way_! We need all the help we can get. Rey obviously," he gestured to the woman, "thinks you're useful, or she wouldn't have brought you here. We need you. Just tell us!"

"Look," Natasha began. "I don't know much about the First Order. My homeworld was pretty secluded, to say the least. But…" She broke off. Natasha really didn't want to say yes. She had enough on her plate. She had fought and _actually literally died_. But Poe's words had rung a bell in her. She had spent so much of her life running and hiding, only looking out for herself. It was only in these latest years with the Avengers that Natasha had learned how to love, and it was those years that she valued the most.

Natasha sighed. "Alright. I'm an intelligence agent for my homeworld. I was on Vormir for a mission, then got stranded. Happy?"

"Intelligence?" Poe circled around where Natasha was sitting. "You're a spy. Are you just here to gain information on us?"

"No!" she burst. "No. Like I said, I don't know much about the war."

"What mission were you sent to Vormir for?" asked the General.

She bit off a nasty retort. "Look- "

"What mission," repeated Poe.

"Retrieval of an object- look can I go? The mission doesn't even matter anymore. I retrieved the object, sent it along, but my ship broke so I couldn't follow. It's done. I just want to go home."

Leia looked at Natasha for a while, and then sighed. "I know you're not telling us everything, but. I think we can trust you. I _hope_ we can trust you." She gestured back to Poe. "Poe will show you where you can stay for the moment until we can figure everything out."

He smiled at her thinly.

"Rey - " the General looked toward the girl standing in the corner of the room. "I need to speak with you for a few moments after this. The rest of you," she turned toward everyone else, "can go. And Natalie - "

Natasha stopped where she had been about to leave with Poe. "Yes?"

"Trust goes both ways. I'm willing to trust you, and I hope you can do the same." Natasha nodded wordlessly in response.

Together, she and Poe walked towards another section of the base. Neither of them spoke - the silence stretched uncomfortably.

Eventually, they reached a series of smaller corridors, and the man led her in front of one of a series of doors, which slid away upon their entrance.

Inside was a small bunk room - a simple bed, footlocker, and lamp. Another door led to the what Natasha presumed was the bathroom. The colors were similar to the rest of the base as well - muted browns and army greens. Natasha's mind wandered, cataloguing the room. Approximately ten feet by ten feet, the room had an okay layout - the bed was in direct view of the door, and the room had no windows. She would have to inspect the bathroom and set up potential security measures later.

She was about to set her bag down on the bed when Poe cleared his throat. She turned to him.

"I don't trust you like Leia does, not yet," he started bluntly. "I don't think it's smart. But I trust Leia, and she trusts you, so. Don't mess this up. Dinner is at eight." The man then turned on his heel and strode out of the room, the door closing automatically behind him.

Finn fell into stride with Poe as he walked back toward the main hangar.

"So…" he said. "What did you think?"

"What did I think of what?" Poe snapped.

"You know - Natalie. Her. The strange, mysterious, new girl who you escorted around. What did you think of her?"

Poe continued walking, "She's fine."

"But you don't like her."

"I like her fine!"

Finn grabbed Poe's arm and forced them to a stop. "So I guess you're acting all angry for no reason. Something's up. Talk to me!"

Poe sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't _know_! It's just - " he broke off, "she shows up in the middle of nowhere, and she's immediately brought to the base and given a spot. We don't know her. I don't think we should be in the habit of trusting complete strangers with valuable secrets."

Finn laughed. "We escaped from a star destroyer together five minutes after meeting me. I think that you just don't like the General disagreeing with you."

"No!" exclaimed Poe, walking again. "I'm just in a bad mood that's all."

"I think it's the superiority complex," Finn whispered teasingly.

"It is not! And it's not like you're one to talk, Mr. _I'm-with-the-resistance_"

Finn's mouth hung open, "Shut up! How do you know about that? Did Rey tell you? I swear - "

Poe's laughter echoed as the two continued walking.

"_I'm with the Resistance..._"

"Shuh!"

**Got some art for this fic! it's here: **** /ddr0218**

**Check it out if you want, if you don't that's ok**


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